A very different post today – not about brand as such or business necessarily, but rather how we should prioritise after a disaster. When is it time for life to get back to normal?
Tomorrow – Friday – Christchurch will hold a memorial service for those killed in the recent earthquake. Yesterday, the reaction to news that Rugby World Cup games would not be hosted in the city in September provoked very different reactions. Some thought a few cancelled rugby games were the least of anyone’s concerns. Others said they had been banking on the games to help lift their spirits and this was another kick in the teeth for a city that was already feeling it had copped more than its fair share of sadness.
It got me thinking about global reaction to the Japanese situation. There’s been a lot of focus naturally on the nuclear situation, which is still far from resolved of course. There has been a great deal of focus too on what these calamitous events will mean for the country’s economy and for others’ exports. There’s been lots of pictures of the swathes of destruction.
While the scale of the two situations is completely different, the question is the same. When is the appropriate time to stop focusing on the human disaster?
It feels like tragedies have barely even completed these days, and the news is filled with economic impacts and the insurers reminding us all that this is costing a fortune and therefore policies will be going up.
I don’t have an answer for what time is appropriate. I can tell you that my instinctive belief however is that there should be a pause, a time when economics, markets and business are put to one side, while those who can be rescued are, and so that the focus can remain on hope for the living and respect for those who have been killed or badly hurt. It doesn’t seem to happen. The global economy seems to lack a pause button.
But what’s respectful and what’s practical? When is the proper time to start thinking about the wider effects of what has occurred?
The other day I read about a company that was having a really hard time after the Christchurch quake. I emailed the CEO to say look, there’s a very good chance your company and your brand are going to come under a lot of stress in the weeks ahead, is there anything my company, with our experience in dealing with brands that are in trouble, can do to help stabilise the situation for you?
I explained that I myself was from Christchurch originally, that we had people there and that I really felt for their loss. Perhaps we could help them secure income and protect jobs at a time when people already had enough on their minds?
So far, I haven’t had a response.
